Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 7-18-17

White House And Political News
Senate Bill To Repeal Obamacare Still Alive
Group Of U. S. Governors Rebuffing Repeal
According to news outlets, 8 to 10 Republican U.S. senators have serious concerns about Republican healthcare legisla- tion to roll back Obamacare, moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins, who opposes the bill, said on Sunday.
The Senate, which is delay- ing its consideration of the bill while Arizona Republican Sen- ator John McCain recuper- ates from surgery to remove a remove a 2-inch (5-cm) blood clot from above his left eye, will take it up as soon as all sena- tors are available, Senator John Cornyn, the second- ranking Republican senator, said.
McCain’s absence casts doubt on whether the Senate would be able to pass legisla- tion to repeal parts of the Af- fordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement, commonly known as Obamacare.
Collins is one of two Re- publican senators who have al- ready said that they would not even vote to open debate on the
latest version of the bill re- leased on Thursday, meaning one more defection from the Republican ranks could kill it.
Republicans control the Senate by a 52-48 margin. With the Democrats solidly op- posed to the legislation, the Re- publicans can only pass the bill if all their other members back it and if Republican Vice Presi- dent Mike Pence casts his tie- breaking vote in favor.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll published on Sunday showed Americans preferred Obamacare by a 2-1 margin. Approaching six months in of- fice, Trump’s overall approval rating has dropped to 36 per- cent from 42 percent in April.
The bill unwinds Oba- macare’s Medicaid expansion over three years, from 2021 to 2024. But it goes beyond re- pealing Obamacare by impos- ing drastic cuts to Medicaid that deepen in 2025 (8 years).
The nonpartisan Congres sional Budget Office estimated the bill would cut Medicaid by nearly $800 billion by 2026, and would cut Medicaid 35 per- cent come 2036.
The nation’s governors, gathered in Rhode Island for their annual summer meeting, came out strongly on Friday against the new Senate bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, turning up the pressure on Re- publican leaders struggling to round up the votes to pass the bill this week.
Opposition came not just from Democratic governors but from Republicans who split along familiar lines — conservatives who said the leg- islation did not go far enough and moderates who said it was far too harsh on their state’s vulnerable residents.While Re- publican governors stopped well short of declaring com- mon cause with Democrats on health care, state executives from both parties gave a brusque reception to Trump
Govs. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Terry McAuliffe of Virginia at the National Governors Associa- tion in Providence, R.I., on Friday.Brian Snyder/Reuters
Queen Elizabeth II Hires First Black Equerry
Feds Indict Former Employees That Posted Nude Photos Of Congress Member
Del. Stacey Plaskett had nude photos of her and her husband posted by 2 of her former staff members, Juan McCullum and Dorene Browne-Louis.
According to The Tele- graph Major Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah has been appointed as the royal house- hold's first black equerry.
The job of the equerry is to support the monarch with all of her official needs. Equerries have traditionally been military men, and Twumasi-Ankrah fits the bill there.
Twumansi-Ankrah grad- uated from Britain's Royal Mil- itary Academy at Sandhurst. After serving his country in the war, Twumasi-Ankrah was tapped for service in the Queen's Household Cavalry.
As a member of that unit, he both commanded troops dur- ing the Queen's birthday pa- rade and served as escort commander during the royal wedding.
Twumasi-Ankrah will
Major Nana Kofi Twumasi- Ankrah has been appointed as the royal household’s first black equerry.
serve as equerry for three years, and will start his new role later this year, taking over from Wing Commander Sam Fletcher.
Twumasi-Ankrah moved to the U.K. from Ghana with his parents in 1982.
Two former staff members of a congresswoman have been charged in the circulation of nude photos and video of the representative and her hus- band, federal prosecutors and the U.S. Capitol Police an- nounced Thursday in Wash- ington, D.C..
Juan R. McCullum, 35, of Washington was indicted on two counts of cyberstalking, and his former co-worker Dorene Browne-Louis, 45, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was indicted on two counts of ob- struction of justice, the Wash- ington Post reports.
In the charging documents, the representative is identified
as Del. Stacey Plaskett, the Virgin Islands nonvoting Dem- ocratic delegate to the U. S. House of Representatives.
The charges stem from a 2016 incident in which per- sonal photographs of Plaskett surfaced on the internet shortly before a primary elec- tion.
McCallum reportedly got access to the photos in March 2016 when he offered to take Plaskett’s malfunctioning iPhone to an Apple store to be repaired.
In July 2016, after McCal- lum left Plaskett’s staff, he allegedly created a Hotmail ac- count and a Facebook account
under a fake name in order to post the photographs, and he encouraged others to share them. He also allegedly texted Browne-Louis and emailed her some of the material, too.
According to the Post, Mc- Callum is a former reality-TV star known as “Pretty” from the VH1 show I Love New York.
Browne-Louis pleaded not guilty before a U. S. magis- trate Thursday and is due back in court Wednesday. She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on obstruction of justice charges.
McCallum, who has not yet appeared in court, faces a max- imum of five years in prison.
administration officials who trekked to Rhode Island to lobby governors for their sup- port.
Gov. John W. Hicken- looper of Colorado, a Democ- rat who is part of a group of seven governors who have been outspoken about their
discomfort with the legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, said he expected an even larger bloc of the state chief ex- ecutives to voice their unease about the proposal after the annual summer gathering of the governors concludes here this weekend.
PAGE 6 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017